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lanela
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Name: Pamela
Birthday: 3/29/1982
Gender: Female
Interests: Jesus, friends, family, love, music and fun
Expertise: nodding and smiling
Occupation: Audiologist
Message: message me
Member Since:
6/7/2006
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| it's been quite awhile since i updated on here. i've had a post brewing in my mind for a few days and thought i would finally sit down and type it out. most of it is just some randoms facts and news, but i will have somewhat of a point.
work has been busy, our department is a bit short-staffed and we are outnumbered by students....regulation is a challenge. it's kind funny that on the craziest days i get emails from an audiology website for an update of job listings around the country........hint hint?
on some lighter notes, i've recently acquired a new couch (thanks mum and dad) and a new car (thanks me) !!! the new/slightly used car (2008 chevy equinox) definitely makes traveling hundreds of miles a week to different clinics more tolerable especially with hauling a ton of equipment. it was a bit sad leaving the grand am at the dealer, but don't worry, i didn't make a scene. im starting to feel more and more like a grown up and....a doctor :)
the kitties are getting bigger everyday.....and learning how to jump up on counters....ggrrrrrr.
summer is officially over and now we're into my favorite season: fall! i love being able to leave my windows open at night and pile on the blankets.
ok, now to the heart of the post. the idea was actually brought on by a conversation with one of our new physicians that joined our practice. we were discussing the code used to get in the back door of one of our clinics, and were realizing how many codes, passwords, usernames and numbers we need to keep track of. ever since then i've wanted to compile a list of these passwords (but you know me...the procrastinator....) but now i'm really curious to see how many i have. so here's my list:
numeric codes:
home garage code
maple grove (mg) clinic back door code
mg clinic audiology storage closet code
mg clinic fit room cabinet codes
minneapolis (mpls) clinic back door code
work voicemail code
debit PIN
nextGen work schedule
provider number for hutchinson medical center (hmc) schedule
asha member number
aaa member number
passwords:
work email
personal email
msn messenger
facebook
xanga
at&t
usbank
comcast
bestbuy
oldnavy
itunes
birthdayreminder
main clinic server
clock in system
work laptop
hmc desktop
hmc schedule
hmc electronic medical records
princeton/elk river electronic medical records
security badges:
mpls clinic parking garage card
princeton/elk river clinic security badge
mg clinic security badge
i kinda thought i would have more than that, im sure im forgetting some, but most of these that i have listed i access every day!! its kinda crazy, dontcha think?
ok im exhausted from that list. yet im not tired because i've also watched the last portion of a ghost hunting show, and then some investigative show where a crazy dude is deep in a jungle trying to find a four-foot monkey with bat wings. (do you think he'll really find it while tramping around in the brush and having constant communication on his walkie talkie and not even trying to whisper?? please. and yet im completely sucked in.) i know neither ghosts nor monkey-bats exist...but why do i now think that they will come through the attic access right above my bed......? *sigh* look who's sleeping with the light on.
(the music selection is a bagpipe piece. it was played as the recessional in a good friend's (tara from point) wedding that i was in in august. never pictured bagpipes at a wedding, not a dry eye for the processional (highland cathedral) and it was actually fun to walk out to this song, everyone had some extra lilt to their step. nicely done, tara!)
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| so i have two kitties. fletcher and tippy. brother and sister. and they are just adorable! i got them when they were about 7 weeks old, and now they're about 3 1/2 months old. i know there is a conversion factor for how dogs age, but what about cats? if i could just take a guess........they're going through the "terrible twos" right now. i don't know what happened last night, but something flipped a switch and they were holy terrors!! fletcher in the garbage, tippy in the sink, fletcher jumping out from behind chairs to attack my legs as i walked by, and both of them tearing around the house, jumping at each other in mid air, running into boxes, jumping and running into furniture and each other. they don't really respond to their names yet, they must think their names are actually "QUIT" or "STOP THAT" or "hey hey hey hey HEY!!!" the more you tell them not to do something, the more they do it. i resorted to throwing water on them last night...lol...i didn't drench them, as my mother and grandma would say they "wore the water." just to shock some sense into them. who knows how effective it was, i'm sure i'll have to do it a few more times........
i'm really not one who will say 'oh they're my kids, they're my babies' and compare them to raising actual human children. but it's fun to see how much they've changed and started to grow! tippy is the whiner and will really let me know when they are both hungry. fletcher just sits there and whimpers in agreement, but lets her do the work. tippy is also the little piggy but takes forever to eat. fletcher always gets done first and comes over to wherever i am (every time) to tell me that he's done eating and then sit in front of me and clean his face. tippy also gets very cuddly when she's tired. they sleep on the bed with me, and they know whats supposed to happen when the alarm goes off. when i start to stir, tippy (who by the morning is STARVING) will sit in front of my face, just waiting. i'll open my eyes and she'll see this, and get more excited, but wont touch me. sometimes i go back to sleep and sometimes i'll just see how long she'll sit there quietly. but as soon as i say ANYTHING, she goes nuts, wanting me to get up to feed her. i made the mistake one morning of making my first words 'did you want to eat?' which is the very first phrase they ever learned the meaning of. she about clawed my face off! i know now not to say anything to her until i'm at least at a level higher than she.
i heart my kitties :)
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| you would think that this phrase would be a sweet beginning to a cute story, especially when told by a woman in her late 50's. i come into contact with a wide variety of patients throughout my day. you just never know what you're going to get. today was a typical crazy monday, ending up with my last patient (who was scheduled for two hours worth of testing) showing up 13 minutes late. not 15 minutes late, only 13. couldn't even pull the "you're too late, you'll have to reschedule" speech. without going into alot of detail about the testing, there are certain times during the vestibular evaluation when i need to have patients mentally task, just to make sure they're not supressing any types of reactions or dizziness, etc. my usual standbys are "girl's names going through the alphabet...starting with A," "boy's names going through the alphabet," "animals through the alphabet" and "food through the alphabet" you get the idea. this part of the test is towards the end, and i'm thinking the task of naming animals must have triggered this story from my patient. as i was ending the test and giving my little ending speech, this woman says: "when i was a little girl....i went to a country school...."
"and at recess we killed gophers for fun."
whaaaaa......................?
i just had no idea what to say to that......i honestly hadn't been paying to her list of animals through the alphabet, but she just have gotten to "g" and thought of gophers. anywho, still, honestly, why???
she then continued....probably because i was just speechless and she felt like she needed to finish the story.
they would kill gophers at recess. skin them. and leave the "tans" out to dry until the next day. (how laura ingalls wilder is that??)
i finally found my voice and decided to ask what they did with the "tans."
"oh we would just hang them up outside the schoolhouse and think were were so cool the next day."
hmph.
then she continued.....again, most likely because i was shocked speechless.
"then you know those big discs that you find on the farm?"
"yes" (actually no....but i have a good imagination) and she formed her hands into about a 12 inch disc size (for your imaginations).
"well, for the girls in my school who were sissies (there were only about 10 kids total), we would take those discs and use those for bases for kickball. Sometimes, after we had killed some gophers, we would take their heads and put them in the hole in the middle of the disc to scare them when they were running around the bases and they would just take off screaming!!"
oh. my. gosh.
she also kept describing the heads in the discs and how their eyes would be wide open......by this point, i had gathered all the papers and test results and her file, i had somehow managed to explain to her that the ENT would go over the specific test results with her the next day, and was walking her out to the waiting room as she kept giving details. i know there was more, but i think i had shut my ears off and was thinking ahead as to how i would record this. because this isnt something you hear every day.
killing gophers.
when she was a little girl.
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| well....what's another 12 months without another move?! i signed for a new apartment....actually...a townhome! not to purchase...that would be a bit too overwhelming. just but i will now have a WASHER and DRYER in my actual home for the first time in 8 years. i'll have carpet for the first time in 4 years. i'll have a full size stove-top in 4 years. i'll be able to live with a kitty for the first time in 8 years. i'll have a GARAGE, a BUILT IN FOLDING TABLE in my laundry "pantry", a DISHWASHER and a WALK IN CLOSET for the first time EVER!!! omigosh it'll feel like a mansion :) (note: objects typed in caps represent objects i am VERY excited about!)
i'm signing the official contract for the clinic on monday and i'll be graduating in 2 1/2 weeks and moving to the new place in one month. these past few weeks haven't been the easiest, but it will feel good to have more of a fresh start to the year....as i usually have have over the past years of undergrad and grad school. i wonder what it'll be like when i actually buy a house and don't move out of it after 12 months.....
i was informed that this week is national-noise-awareness-try-not-to-damage-your-hearing-week.....or something like that. i can't find a formal declaration of this awareness week, i just heard it from a staff member at our clinic. so i feel that it is my duty to say:
-turn your radio down! (this is just as much for me as it is for anyone else....)
-wear ear plugs when around excessive noise!
-when listening to your ipod, remember: the volume control should be at 60% capacity for only 60 minutes a day. the more you turn it down, the longer you're able to use it.
-don't use q-tips! it would take just one flick of the wrist or bump of the elbow to shove that thing right through your eardrum....i've seen the consequences.
random side note: the combination of acoustic guitar, bass guitar and violins is my favorite. (again...at a reasonable volume level...)
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| i can't remember the last time i was moved to tears so quickly in a church service.
it's been a long couple of weeks, draining changes going on at work, still trying to find a place at my church, and waiting for the decision from the board about my future with the clinic (which 98% sure...but not official). i feel as though i've been a bit of an "island" lately. (trademarked by KT) just alot of things on my mind, wonderi....no...worrying about the future. i don't need to go into details, but i will say that today's service was just what i needed.
john piper was really on his game today. he spoke on I John, somewhat of an overview of the whole book, but focusing on the first few verses of chapter 5. so many good points throughout...a few highlights: loving God is shown through obedience....not the kind that is seen as burdensome, but with joy....because everyone who is born of God overcomes the world......and our faith is that victory. piper also likes to use this analogy of admiring a necklace in the dark. for those who have been to MAC at least twice...you've heard the analogy of the stacked deck or the spiderweb....this is piper's: in the dark, we fondle and admire this necklace around our neck...but when the light comes on, we realize that it's a cockroach!!! AAAHH!! (on this particular day, john piper actually squealed, and caused most of the congregation to startle violently. including me.)
"walking in the light does not mean that we are sinless. walking in the light means that when you stumble, you RECOGNIZE it, there is light all around, and you can see your mess. if you're in the dark.....you don't acknowledge the mess." i don't think i need to add any commentary there, another good analogy.
they also had a mass baby dedication, well, mass meaning 7 babies. oh so cute 7 babies too! it's such a sweet ceremony, nothing big and flowery, just families standing together and committing to raise their child to follow God and committing them to His care. i'm so looking forward to the day i will dedicate my children. it got me teary-eyed, and i don't even know any of these families.
the real reason i was brought to tears so early on in the service was during worship. this particular sunday i noticed that they had a semi-full orchestra to play some instrumental pieces and to accompany worship. it was beautiful. i also noticed as i walked in to sit down, there was a man with down syndrome sitting 4-5 rows in front of me. i couldn't really guess his age, it's hard to. but i noticed him and his family, a dad and two younger sons. no mother to be seen, but she was actually preparing to help give roses to the families dedicating their children later on, along with one other woman who were introduced as those representing mothers of children with disabilities.
the music started and as the first song swelled to the chorus, this young man raised a hand in worship. i didn't even need to see the rest of him to know that that was his hand lifted up. i couldn't even continue to sing, it was so touching. he would also sign a word here and there in the song when he recognized it. it reminded me so much of my brother, it was sweet. people always say to our family that they are blessed by the way Brian worships, and i'm so proud of him for that, but today, i think i really felt what they feel as i watched this man worship. i hope that my worship would always be meaningful and intentional.
i seem to have told this story of the service a bit backwards, but whichever way it happened, it was very encouraging and lovely in every aspect. babies, music and down syndrome......just add lilacs, hugs and a sunset...and you'll be starting a list of the most beautiful things.
we left with this prayer:
Lord, keep our eyes open, confirm us in our new birth everyday, though faith in Your Son and in loving others.
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